Nigeria's 2027 Election Clouded by AI-Generated Images and Errors in the Voter Register

Nigeria's electoral commission has a problem it did not expect to be discussing this close to a national vote. Its preliminary voter register, released recently by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), reportedly contains photographs that look as though they were generated by artificial intelligence. With a little over two months to go before the general election, the discovery has raised questions about whether the body is ready.

The signs that drew attention were visible on the page. Some of the images showed exaggerated facial features. Elsewhere in the register were duplicated names, and entries for people who have died since the previous election. The reporting describes the images as believed to be AI-generated, and the register as reportedly riddled with them. That wording matters: the claim is attributed, not independently established.

INEC's chairman, Joash Amupitan, has said the commission is investigating, with a focus on discrepancies that AI may have created. He also announced a dedicated unit to monitor AI-related threats, detect deepfakes and protect the integrity of the process, warning that the credibility of the vote could otherwise come under attack.

The contest itself is set. Incumbent Bola Tinubu is running on a platform of tackling insecurity and the economic crisis. He faces former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the senior opposition figure Peter Obi. INEC counts more than 103 million registered voters.

Fabricated media is not new to Nigerian politics. Before the 2023 election, deepfakes falsely tied candidates to terror-related activity and circulated widely on social media. Such material is typically made to boost one candidate or discredit another, and AI could allow disinformation campaigns on a new scale. Lois Ugbede, assistant editor at the fact-checking platform DUBAWA, told DW that her organization's monitoring shows AI-driven disinformation is serious and becoming commonplace. She pointed to parties using inflated crowd images to suggest larger followings than they have.

Akintunde Babatunde, executive director of the Abuja-based Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development, described a deeper danger. People may start to doubt authentic information simply because convincing fakes exist. Genuine evidence, he said, can be dismissed as AI-generated, and he cited a lawmaker who made inflammatory remarks at a campaign rally and then claimed the clips had been manipulated.

Chibuike Mgbeahuruike, an election consultant at the Centre for Democracy and Development, said AI intrusion into the commission's portal could damage its institutional credibility, at a time when confidence is already low. He argued AI is not inherently a threat to electoral integrity. The real threat, he said, is the absence of effective accountability for how it is deployed, and voters need technology that is transparent, independently scrutinized and subject to human and institutional oversight. Mallam Jibrin Baba Ndace, director-general of state-owned Voice of Nigeria, urged journalists at a recent conference to exercise due diligence so they do not repeat reports that AI manipulation later exposes as false.

Technology has long been bound up with Nigerian elections. Direct Data Capture Machines arrived in 2011, collecting fingerprints or webcam facial data to stop multiple voting. A decade later the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) became the standard, combining fingerprints and facial recognition. In 2023, however, system failures and poor cell signals delayed voter accreditation.

Trust is also a turnout issue. The 2023 election drew the lowest turnout since the return to democratic rule in 1999: only 27% of registered voters went to the polls, and apathy among young people is a particular worry. What to watch now is what INEC's investigation finds about the register, and whether the new AI unit can show results before voting day.